Jakarta – An Indonesian court has thrown out a lawsuit brought by a mining executive against the New York Times over reports the firm dumped toxic waste into an Indonesian bay, lawyers said Thursday.

Richard Ness, an executive with US mining giant Newmont, sued the newspaper and one of its reporters for more than 64 million dollars for defamation over articles published in 2004.

The stories alleged Newmont polluted the bay with tonnes of waste from its now-defunct gold mine on the island of Sulawesi.

A three-judge panel said the Central Jakarta state court "does not have the authority to hear and judge this case," according to Gani Djemat and Partners, the law firm representing the defendants.

The law firm said in a statement that Wednesday's court ruling was based on defence arguments that the case was outside its jurisdiction.

The defence argued that the journalist was not an Indonesian national or a resident here, that The New York Times did not have a representative office in Indonesia and that it did not commit the alleged defamation in the country.

"Not a single connecting factor practically links or at least points toward the fact that Indonesia can be the site where the case is to be heard," the lawyers' statement said.

Ness and the local unit of Newmont were acquitted by Indonesian judges in April of criminal charges of polluting Buyat Bay with mining waste including arsenic and mercury.

Prosecutors had sought a three-year jail sentence for Ness in a drawn-out case closely watched by foreign investors and environmentalists.

Ness claimed the New York Times stories on the pollution allegations were inaccurate and unfair, and had contributed to the charges brought against him and Newmont.

The stories were published about the time that police started investigating complaints from villagers living near the bay, who said pollution was killing marine life and complained of headaches, skin rashes and tumours.

Newmont had always denied the charges, saying it disposed of toxins safely and that levels of mercury and arsenic were within acceptable levels.

Studies of waters around the bay have shown conflicting results. A World Health Organisation-backed report and others found no evidence of pollution, but government tests showed high levels of toxins.